Remortgage and FTB enquiries dominate broker website traffic

Impartial.co.uk has found that consumers seeking remortgage deals make up the largest proportion of its enquiries.

Of the consumers who visited the broker listings website last month, 19% were looking to transfer to new deals while 18% were first-time buyers.

But the numbers represent a decline compared with October when the figures were 24% and 21% respectively.

Karen Barrett, marketing director of Impartial. co.uk, says: “Most consumers who visit our website to find whole of market mortgage advice are either looking to remortgage or are buying their first homes.

“We saw a decrease in the numbers searching these areas in November com-pared with October, as some consumers may have been waiting to see the effects of November’s 1.5% Bank of England base rate cut before taking out new mortgage deals.”

Barrett says the 1% cut in the base rate earlier this month will reduce the flow of clients looking for better deals as tracker borrowers and those stuck on SVRs will see their monthly repayments fall.

But she adds that those looking to remortgage won’t feel the benefits of the rate cut and will continue to have difficulty finding attractive rates.

Barrett adds: “We expect the number of enquiries for whole of market mortgage advice to rise as a result of consumers seeking to re-mortgage to cheaper deals.”

Mike Fitzgerald, sales director at Brentchase Financial, agrees that there has been an upturn in re-mortgage and first-time buyer business in the past few weeks but says there are still deals available for those looking to transfer from fixed rates.

He says: “This is not the beginning of a revival but we have been busier with remortgage and first-time buyer work in the past few weeks.

“Remortgaging depends on LTVs and clients. There are good deals out there and they are becoming easier to find.”